Revival
by fictorium
Summary: There's a time and a place for a first kiss. Regina's pretty sure this is neither.


"Do it!" Henry screams, wriggling and kicking in David's arms as he holds Henry back. Henry is red in the face, and Regina stares at him, remembering how he looked just like this when he was teething. She feels the familiar helplessness rearing up, her failure to protect him from pain.

"Henry," Regina pleads. "There's nothing I can do. We have to let the doctor work."

She glares at Archie, flustered and out of his depth. Luckily Dr. Whale is running the show, but Archie mutters a warning that makes them both work a little faster.

"Emma!" Henry screams her name. "Emma!"

And Regina, despite herself, feels some satisfaction that he isn't calling her Mom. She'd feel a whole lot better if Emma weren't lying in the town square, unconscious and barely breathing. She's been missing for two days, Regina knows, and the whole town is acting like they can't live without Emma. It would be maddening if Regina didn't suspect she feels exactly the same way.

She steps in to soothe her son, placing a shaking hand on his cheek. He stops fighting David's grip for a moment.

"Henry, my darling," Regina says. "I'm so sorry. But part of being a grown-up is knowing terrible things. And that includes the fact that a kiss won't change anything. There's no magic here." Regina sighs, because on one level that isn't a lie. "I'm sorry you have to learn this so young."

"Shut up!" Henry spits. "I don't care if you're the Evil Queen. I'll forgive you—if you save her. Just _do it_."

"Henry, I—"

"If you love me, Mom, you'll do it. Even if it's just to humor me."

Henry is running out of steam now, and despite his flushed face he just looks tired and so very, very sad. Regina squeezes his cheek gently, beforing realizing she's ready to give in.

"If I try, will you believe me?" Regina asks.

"Yes!" Henry shouts. "Go! Do it now!"

Regina can't believe she's being bossed around by a child, but then nothing makes sense to her these days. She pushes her way through the small crowd that keeps building despite Ruby's best efforts to control the crowd. Emma's never been able to keep a deputy, but Ruby is stepping up in a way Regina would never have expected.

"Doctor?" Regina asks, stern and unforgiving as she can force herself to be. She's trying very hard not to look at Emma's broken body, lying there drained of almost all her spiky vitality. Regina's seen death, hell, she's caused it more often than not, but this feels so much harder.

"There's nothing much we can do," Dr. Whale sighs, and Regina wonders again if she should have been more picky about better-trained medical staff for the town. Nobody puts these things in the 'how to curse everyone you've ever known' handbook.

"Then allow me," Regina sighs, wishing that this could all be happening somewhere a lot more private. She sinks to her knees on the grass, no doubt ruining her brand new gray pants (which incidentally, do wonders for her ass). With no small amount of apprenhension, she reaches for Emma's dark leather jacket, almost as though confirming she's real.

"Come on!" Henry squeals, and Regina doesn't have to look around to know he's struggling against David again. The poor man is going to be bruised all over. With a sigh, Regina leans over the prone woman in front of her.

Emma's face is so white that Regina has to force herself not to balk at the family resemblance. She has to get this indignity over with, or risk having her son hate her forever. Though in an ideal world, Regina would be able to explain that it's the 'love' part that breaks a curse, not simply the 'kiss'.

That's why she's expecting precisely nothing as she presses her lips fleetingly against Emma's. Though the face is clammy, the lips are soft and dry and warm, and in any other circumstances, Regina might have stolen a second kiss.

She's straightening up to show Henry that it hasn't worked when a strange noise spills out of Emma's mouth. It sounds a little like her name, Regina realizes, and when she looks down she's terrifed to see that Emma's eyes are open. Unfocused, and definitely scared, but open nonetheless.

"I told you" Henry whoops, breaking free at last and running to hug Regina. It's like being hit by a tiny linebacker, but Regina could weep at how desperately she's been craving this simple affection from her son. Maybe, just maybe, there's still hope for them.

"You kissed me?" Emma croaks, causing the smarter people in the crowd to draw back. They all know there's a better than even chance of a fight breaking out.

"Uh…" Regina hesitates. "Henry made me do it?"

"Oh," Emma sighs, trying to sit up. Archie has to help her, but she makes it. "Were you planning on doing it again?"

Regina shrugs, because for some reason she doesn't have a clear-cut answer. That's pretty terrifying, too.

"Well, let's see where we are after I get a shower. And some painkillers," Emma says, grimacing.

"Doctor, get this woman to the hospital," Regina barks. Whatever the hell just happened will have to wait. And while she's waiting, she might just allow herself to freak the hell out.


End file.
